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Space applications encompass many different space based technologies, tools and techniques. These can range from the use of Earth Observation (EO) satellites for obtaining satellite imagery, Geospatial Information (GI) or integrated location based data along with socio-economic data, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) such as positioning systems, Remote Sensing (RS) and imagery analysis, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) for aerial photography etc. This paper will discuss ways to improve disaster management through the use of space applications.

The analysis revealed that the region is greatly reliant upon trans‐border terrestrial fiber optic connectivity, which places it at a distinct competitive disadvantage relative to coastal markets, which benefit from submarine fiber optic cable systems offering higher capacity, greater cost effectiveness, and more extensive reach than the region’s existing terrestrial connectivity. With the exception of the Russian Federation, none of the countries in this study have oceanic coastlines.

Since the 1970s in particular, the countries of Western Asia and those of the Asia-Pacific region have been closely linked to each other through highly extensive movements of people. Opportunities created by the rapid development of the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), but also other countries in the ESCWA region, have attracted a large number labour migrants from the Asia-Pacific region.

The principal aim of this publication is to analyze the current status of paperless trade implementation in the region and assess a practical approach to the facilitation of cross-border paperless trade in the Asia-Pacific region, as this will contribute to regional connectivity. With world-leading paperless trade systems already in place in several countries of Asia and the Pacific, including a few cases of successful cross-border paperless trade data exchange, the region is fast moving towards a paperless trade environment.

This paper examines how freedom of transit and transit facilitation are addressed in trade and transport (as well as transit-specific) agreements in the ESCAP region. The objective is to identify good practices and understand the extent to which existing agreements meet the transit facilitation provisions set out in the draft text of the WTO trade facilitation agreement (TFA).

Energy poverty- lack of access to electricity and reliance on traditional fuels for cooking and heating - remains an enduring problem. Globally, more than a billion people live without electricity and, nearly three billion depend entirely on wood, charcoal and dung for other domestic energy needs. Their search for energy fuels and services is an arduous, daily grind. Lack of access to modern energy has a broad impact.

Labour migration in the Asia-Pacific is dynamic and growing. Variable economic growth, deepening regional integration, and growing disparities in wealth, both within and among countries, have created strong incentives for workers to relocate across borders. Patterns of migration are also becoming more complex: the traditional concept of labour migration as being from ‘South’ to ‘North’ is no longer accurate to capture the nuanced patterns of flows across the Asia-Pacific.

Several countries in Asia and the Pacific have launched high-level policy initiatives and action plans to promote green growth, and the green economy. As a consequence the demand for indicators of economic growth that supports, rather than detracts from, sustainable development, is growing. Green growth indicator frameworks developed by international organisations and partnerships of organisations share a focus on a few key dimensions.

Conventional growth strategies have reduced poverty. People now have more access to basic services and more opportunities for mobility and participation. But there are still persistent unmet needs, widening inequalities, and new development challenges such as climate change, intensifying natural disaster and resource depletion. There is a search for growth strategies that better fit a changing economic, social and environmental reality.

In the national economies of Asia and the Pacific, entrepreneurs are critical drivers of growth through innovation and job creation. Recognizing the potential of, and the challenges for, women’s entrepreneurship across the Asia-Pacific region, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women launched a joint programme to promote enabling policy and legal environments for women’s entrepreneurship in four countries in Asia and the Pacific: Indonesia, China, India and Malaysia.